


Matters Of The Heart

by PeanuutFlower



Series: MegaPit [11]
Category: Rockman | Mega Man Classic, Super Smash Brothers, 光神話 | Kid Icarus (Video Games)
Genre: (get it?), Dr. Light Tries To Be A Good Dad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Food, Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Secret Relationship, Smash Mansion, Three Laws of Robotics, glitching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24772849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeanuutFlower/pseuds/PeanuutFlower
Summary: Dr. Light usually does his best to answer any questions his robotic children might have.But maybe there's some he just cannot properly answer.
Relationships: Dr. Light & Rockman | Mega Man, Dr. Light & Roll, Pit (Kid Icarus)/Rockman | Mega Man, Rockman | Mega Man & Roll
Series: MegaPit [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602994
Comments: 16
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

“Dad, can I ask you a question?”

“What is it, Rock?”

Dr. Light wondered exactly what kind of question his robotic son could have to ask. They were, after all, repairing a damaged robot, something that wasn't out of the ordinary.

As it stood, they were patching up Cut Man: the robot had tried showing off to others, juggling with his blades. But he had been so focused on that, he had forgotten about watching his steps and had tripped, the blades falling back down onto him, and the result had been around a dozen cuts all over his metallic and latex body, akin to an acupuncture gone wrong.

It was in those moments the doctor was glad he had gone over his grief with Blues -Protoman- and built his other two children. Having Rock around was a blessing whenever his aging joints ached, and today was no different.

Along with his sight not being how it used to be, doing such precise repairs had become harder and harder for him. Thankfully, his son was perfectly able to help, manipulating his tools with care, and knowing exactly what should be fixed, and how. He had, after all, been built with those features in mind.

Which is why the doctor had raised an eyebrow. Truth be told, he was worried maybe something was wrong with Cut Man, and was already feeling tired from the further work this would bring.

Not to mention Rock had fallen eerily silent, as if he was contemplating on whether or not he should bring the subject up.

Finally, the robot spoke.

“What are the extent of my emotions?”

Dr. Light blinked, half-relieved this had nothing to do with Cut Man, half-surprised at the topic.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I've... In the tournament I went to...” Rock trailed off, looking unsure. “I've made friends. Real friends, I think. And I don't think I've ever felt that strongly for anyone before... safe for our closest friends, and our family, but I figure it's to be expected of me.”

Dr. Light tried to refrain from his excitement. He was definitely happy his decision to let his son go, once again, into unknown territory had paid off, but Rock was clearly trying to ask for his advice.

He prodded a bit, but couldn't help a small grin.

“And how strong are those feelings, exactly?”

Rock shrugged. “I don't know. As strong? A little less, maybe?”

“And, if I understand right, you wish to know how high those feelings of yours can reach?”

“Yes, that's exactly it!” Rock smiled, looking up from his work on Cut Man.

Dr. Light had half a mind to tell him to keep working, but then again, he was slacking off too. And this discussion was much more interesting than fixing up one of his other creations.

Why he kept making robots that got into trouble, he would never understand.

“Well, what with how I've programmed you, I think you could go as far as being best of friends with someone.” He explained, ready to go back to his work.

But apparently, Rock wasn't done.

“What about romance?” He asked, his voice small and unsure, but with an undeniable edge of curiosity.

That was new.

Roll had been the one expressing curiosity about romance so far, what with her being the more social of the two and interacting with humans on a more regular basis, forcing him to sit down with her and try and explain the frankly uninteresting stakes of a chick flick, while his daughter tirelessly pestered him with seemingly never ending questions about love and relationships.

That was definitely an interesting development for Rock. He would have to remember to write it down.

“What about it?” He asked his son.

“Am I capable of that?”

Dr. Light pursed his lips. He knew well Rock could never experience anything close to romance: he had programmed him after all; he would know. It was downright impossible, so these questions probably had their origin from somewhere else.

Yet, a tiny, irrational part of him couldn't help but wonder if his son had managed to develop a crush on someone. It couldn't hurt to ask.

“Why do you want to know?”

Rock stayed silent for a few seconds, before he answered.

“My friends brought it up. And it got me curious. About myself, mostly.”

Ah, so he had been right. Rock had just been influenced by his new friends to delve into that subject.

It's a wonder Roll hadn't gotten to him before them.

Speaking of which, he was thankful he now had a speech prepared. Trying to explain love and romance to his daughter had been quite the ordeal.

“Well... that kind of love is... a complicated thing. Humans still don't understand it. It's extremely complex and, in my opinion, illogical. And coding requires logic. So it's impossible for me to program you to feel romantic attraction, especially since there would be no purpose behind it.”

Rock looked puzzled. Dr. Light wondered if maybe he had forgotten a part of his speech. He was more at ease with lines of codes than sentences, after all.

“No purpose? What do you mean?”

Dr. Light scratched the back of his head. He did not have an answer prepared, but tried anyway.

“Well, you see, friendship can provide someone with companionship and support. So does romance. But if you already have the other one, it would be superficial to add it.”

“Romance wouldn't add anything?” Rock sounded genuinely doubtful. It seemed there would be some convincing to do.

“Well... some would say the purpose of falling in love is to ensure the survival of the species...” Oh boy, this was going somewhere he still didn't want to tread. This is why he hadn't built them as teens or young adults. “But it's absolutely forbidden for robots to make other robots. You cannot reproduce in any way. In that case, even if romance could be deciphered and coded into machines... there'd be no use for it.”

Rock still didn't look convinced. “It could have a use though? It could offer a special kind of relationship?”

“Which you can already get with a high enough friendship. See what I mean?”

“Yes, Dr. Light.”

“Good.”

Rock wordlessly went back to his work, but it still looked like he had something on his mind, and so did Dr. Light.

He found it a bit odd, really, not only his son's sudden interest in that particular subject, but his insistence against his claims that romance was useless.

They managed to fix most of what was left, and that's when Rock spoke again.

“So... to sum it up, what you mean is it's impossible for me to experience any kind of romantic attraction, for anyone, regardless of gender, robot or human?”

Dr. Light almost let out a sigh of relief. It looked like his explanations had been successful after all.

“Yes, exactly. And in the impossible event that you did fall in love, it would most likely be a worrying glitch.”

Rock almost froze on the spot, his expression unreadable, as if his emotional protocols were trying to activate all at once. But it disappeared as quickly as it showed up.

“Alright. Thank you, doctor. I feel like I understand more about myself now.”

Rock smiled up at him but, deep inside him, Dr. Light couldn't shake the odd feeling that this wasn't what his son had wanted to hear.

“That's great.” He said, pushing down the feeling and focusing back on his work. “I guess we're good to go when it comes to waking up Cut Man. And I hope he's prepared for my scolding.”

Rock chuckled at his side, and smiled, a bit sheepishly. “Don't be too harsh, doctor. He just wanted attention.”

The doctor smiled, playfully ruffling his assistant's hair. “I know, I know...”

Once Cut Man had been thoroughly woken up and scolded, they went about their day as usual, and since Rock didn't bring up anything remotely related to it in the days that followed, the conversation the doctor had had with his son was promptly put away in the far reaches of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Hope you liked what you read so far!  
> 'am not really sure about this one tbh, don't really know where I'm going with it, but I'm going!  
> I'm just trying to experiment some stuff, see what sticks.
> 
> That said, this fic probably wont be in my top priorities update-wise, but who knows! I just don't want to get too carried away on side projects.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting angsty.

“Doctor?”

Dr. Light looked up from his screen and his notes. He had been spending the last days or so checking over some lines of programming Dr. Cossack had sent him. It had been tiring, as it always was. It seemed that whenever he corrected an issue, five more came up. But such was the life of a programmer.

He didn't particularly like being interrupted when he was focused on such work, and he could easily have ignored the robot, but he chose against it, curiosity getting the better out of him.

“What is it, Rock?”

Looking at him properly, he could see his son looked a bit nervous. And unsure.

“I was wondering if you could... I mean I've been thinking about getting... upgrades?”

“What kind?”

“Hardware.”

“Ah, I see. You wish to have the double-gear system implemented permanently? I would not be against it, but I'm quite busy right now, and you'll understand I'd rather do it in a time of utmost need.”

To his surprise, Rock shook his head, looking more hesitant by the second. “I-well that'd be nice too, but I was more thinking along the lines of... height?”

“Height?” Dr. Light repeated, a bit taken aback.

“Yes. And by that I don't mean making me look older.” He looked like he was hesitating, like he was actually considering and liking the idea despite what he had just claimed. Dr. Light felt himself frowning at that. “I'd just need to be a bit... taller than what I am right now.”

“And... may I ask what exactly brought this up?” He asked, his tone neutral, though he felt a bit sour. Such an upgrade was at the very bottom of his list of priorities, and he wasn't particularly one to like wasting time on trivial matters when he was supposed to do something more important. But, again, this was his son. He supposed he could make an exception.

“I uh-” Rock sputtered. The way he was acting was definitely odd. “Y-you say I need to learn from the human experience, right? And humans change over time, and I guess I want to experience such change for myself...” His son chuckled awkwardly, idly scratching at the back of his head.

A sound argument, but Dr. Light was far from convinced, as he raised an eyebrow in mild confusion.

“I've already updated you multiple times, Rock. Especially to make you into Mega Man. You've already changed quite a bit.”

“I know, I know, but- what I mean is, humans grow taller and I'd like that too?” There was an odd edge to his son's words. As if he wasn't telling the whole truth.

In fact, Dr. Light was sure there was something else to it. He had no intention on making good on his son's request, but he still was curious to see what had stirred up such a need.

“I don't doubt that's part of your intentions... but what is the primary reason behind all this?”

“... I want to be able reach the top shelf?”

“You can use a stool for that.” He teased him, as he realized that the reason behind Rock's odd request might just as well be the same behind his questions on the topic of romance.

After all, he had friends now, most of them human.

“Oh, wait, I think I understand. It's about your new friends, isn't it? From that fighting tournament?”

“What makes you think that?” Rock started to blush. Ah, so that really was what it was about. Dr. Light relaxed a bit at that.

“It's nothing to be embarrassed about, Rock. It's normal of you to feel different and left out, when all the friends you know are having growth spurts.”

“Ha-ha, you got me!” The robot said, forcing a laugh out. Dr. Light almost laughed at his son's awkwardness. “Sooo... can I?...” Rock asked him, hopeful.

Dr. Light frowned, knowing what he would say next would upset him. But he had to make him understand why he couldn't accept his request. And he wanted to end this pointless discussion to go back to his pressing work.

“Rock, I wish I could say yes, but such an upgrade seems highly futile." Rock looked ready to interrupt him, but Dr. Light raised his hand up to stop him. "And it would require a lot of calculations. Simply adding enhancers on your limbs won't do. I'll have to rewire everything, and I will have to adjust your coding so that you won't suffer from a loss of balance and acute space and depth perception, amongst a lot of other things.” He explained, hoping that would be the end of it, and added. “And as you can see, even if I wanted to, my schedule is quite simply full at the moment.”

Rock frowned. “But... wouldn't that just be changing numbers in my settings? It can't be that complicated!”

Dr. Light sighed internally. He had hoped Rock would have gotten the memo, but it looked like he was going to be as stubborn about this as he had been when he had chosen to go fight Albert as Mega Man.

The only difference being that the changes he was currently asking for served no substantial purpose.

“The hardware work would require new calibrations, and your settings are tightly linked to your adaptive learning protocol. I can't be reckless with it.”

Rock took a few steps toward him, his voice raising in pitch. He looked like ready for confrontation. Dr. Light felt his mood sour again as he glanced at the digital clock.

“Then don't be! Take as much time as you want!” The robot protested.

“I would have to deactivate you for weeks! What if Dr. Wily chooses that time to strike again? You wouldn't be able to stop him!” Dr. Light argued, looking his son straight in the eyes.

“But it's never been a problem before! What's really the matter, doctor?”

His son was staring him down, looking accusatory, and that didn't sit well with the doctor, reminding him too much of another one of his creations.

The man shook his head, and sighed, feeling his patience running out. But he figured he could indulge his son a little more, and give him the entire truth. “... Well, there is one thing.”

He stood up from his chair and put his hand on Rock's shoulder, who looked up at him. “Rock, my mistake with your brother was to have made him too much like a human. He felt different from all the other robots, and became rebellious. I do not want you to live the same existence.”

He saw Rock growing impatient, almost angry. At him.

That was new. Not a good new. “Well what if I want to?! What if I want to feel closer to what a human would be?!” He spat.

Dr. Light stared his son down. “Rock, you know I can't do that. You have limitations...” He stopped himself before he said something he could regret. But he had to make sure he reminded Rock of his condition, no matter how much it pained him.

“Look, you are my son." He said, his voice barely above a whisper. "In my heart I see you as no different than if you had been human. But you have to realize, and accept, that you'll never be like a human.”

To his surprise, Rock groaned, looking downright frustrated.

“I told you! I don't want to be exactly like a human! I just want to be as close to the real deal as possible! Come on, it's not a game changer, it's just a little hardware update! It won't be any different than when you gave me the Mega Buster and-”

“Rock, no!” Dr. Light interrupted him, his voice cold and firm. He was done arguing.

“But d-”

“I said _no_.”

This time, Rock kept his mouth shut, looking straight at him with unusually piercing, angry eyes, that were soon adorned by oncoming tears.

Dr. Light tried not to let that phase him. He had to stand his ground. If the public eye learned he let his robots do as they pleased, what with the general population's mixed opinions on advanced robotics thanks to Albert's actions, he could only fear the worst.

His son getting decommissioned or destroyed was one of his worst nightmares.

Besides, he had already lost enough time on this pointless argument.

“Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go over those lines of codes Dr. Cossack wants me to proofread.” He said, sitting back down in his chair. He could have stopped talking altogether, but his conflicted feelings kept him going. “In the meantime, I want you to go check on the storage room and do an inventory of our resources, you know, the ones we use for the _needed_ and _necessary_ repairs and updates?”

Rock, unable to disobey a direct order, stormed out with a huff, straight to the storage room, tears streaming down his cheeks.

The sight broke the doctor's heart, but he tried to ignore it, focusing back on his work.

Except he couldn't. He kept being reminded of the words he had spoken to the robot, as they kept playing inside his mind even when Roll came in with his dinner tray.

_Needed._

_Necessary._

Knowing Rock, he had probably taken these words to heart.

Dr. Light sighed, massaging his aching temples.

He hadn't meant to sound that harsh.

His mind circled back to the whole conversation. This one, and the one they had before that.

He was convinced there was something else at play, that Rock wasn't telling him.

It both scared and pained him, to think that his little robot was somehow not trusting him enough to share whatever it was with him.

“Give him some time, Thomas.” Dr. Mikhail Cossack told him that night on the other side of the screen, after he had asked why Dr. Light looked so exhausted and worried.

Yes, in due time, his boy would surely come to him and share what had really been on his mind.

But the wait would be painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posted this update a bit earlier than I thought I'd do, but the chapter had already been 80% written down anyway.  
> tune in who knows when for the next chapter!
> 
> And thank you for the kudos! ^^


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things may be getting a little less angsty.

“Dr. Light?”

The man looked up from his meal at his son, who was standing opposite the dining table, alongside Roll and Auto. Theirs were special meals, with food tailored for robots, to give a semblance of normalcy to their family.

Ever since their argument, Rock had barely talked to him outside of their work.

Their family moments, like eating dinner together this evening, would have become increasingly awkward had Roll and Auto not been there to stir up some conversation.

Even then, his son's silence and avoidance had been gnawing at the man's heart and conscience.

However, the robot's mood had inexplicably improved after he had come back from the fighting tournament that very morning. Dr. Light had not pressed him on as to why, but figured being with his friends had had a play in it.

Still, it felt odd that he was now talking to him, after weeks of not doing so outside of lab work.

Rock, oblivious to his father's inner musings, continued to speak. “We are able to eat regular food, right?”

“Uh?” What kind of a question was that?

Noticing his confusion, Rock probably thought the man hadn't heard him right. “Regular food. It's not dangerous for us, robots, to eat it?”

Dr. Light blinked, still wondering why his son was asking him a question with such an obvious answer, but before Rock would have to reiterate for a second time, he gathered his bearings. “It's not dangerous, it's just... useless? You'd be wasting ressources. I thought you already knew this?”

At his question, Rock looked sheepish. “I know, it's silly... but... say, if my friends absolutely wanted me to eat lunch with them, and I wanted to be polite and they forced me to eat exactly like them... would it be a bad thing?"

Oh. If this was another one of those friends-related issues, Dr. Light figured it made his son nervous, and that in turn made him unsure about what would have otherwise been the truth to him. In that case, his father would be happy to clear up any doubts he had.

“Well, no? You'd just need to clean up afterwards, otherwise the food decomposition would give you a pretty nasty smell. And if it's a one-time thing, I suppose it could be allowed.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Rock went back to eating his meal, visibly less bothered now, and Dr. Light was about to do the same, when he noticed an odd behavior on Roll's part: the girl was staring her brother down, and, soon enough, kicked him from under the table.

Her brother yelped and glared at her, while Roll looked at him with an eyebrow raised. Rock ignored her, and the girl let out an audible sigh. Their father was becoming increasingly curious as to the reason behind this exchange, and was about to voice his inquiries, but Roll beat him to it.

“Would kissing someone who's not a robot be a violation of Asimov's laws?”

Undoubtedly, it seemed like his children had decided to ask questions with painfully obvious answers this evening.

“What do you mean by that?” He asked, confused. Roll sighed.

“Would it be considered punching them with your lips? Hurting them?” It was clear from her tone that Roll already knew the answer and had a hard time believing she was even asking that question, so Dr. Light figured she was asking it in her brother's stead. That certainly explained what he had just witnessed between the two of them.

He chuckled, and gave an amused look to his son, who seemed strangely focused on stabbing at his food with his fork at the moment.

“Kissing normally doesn't hurt anyone, though I suppose I see the concern...” He started to clarify. “...but if that was the case, then merely touching a human in any way would be considered assault.”

“So... kissing is safe, then?” Roll asked, looking straight at her brother.

“I don't see why it wouldn't. But, why are you asking that? With the subject of kissing, the doctor had just remembered his talk with his son about romance, and he briefly wondered if-

“The princesses in Smash insist Rock greets them with a kiss on the cheek in the morning. And he does, to be polite.”

Dr. Light blinked. He had not expected such a minor thing to be the reason behind this question, and felt silly he had even thought for one second that it would have been something to do with anything remotely romantic. He knew, after all, that it was downright impossible for any of his creations to fall in love.

He turned to his son, awaiting further explanation from him. Rock finally stopped playing with his food, and looked him in the eyes.

“Y-yeah, that. I know it sounds silly, and I should have expected it doesn't break them, but I just couldn't help but wonder-”

Roll cut him off, pouting. “And I told you it wouldn't break them, but you still had to go and tell me to ask dad about it. Seriously!”

“Hey! What's wrong with asking for a human's input?” Rock argued, waving his hand in his father's direction.

“I just hoped you would have trusted my judgement!” Roll argued back, crossing her arms while sitting firmly on her chair.

Dr. Light was sure they would drag this sibling squabble for the entire evening if he didn't stop them soon.

“I do! I just-”

“Alright, alright you two. Quit the banter and finish that dinner, will you?”

That did the trick, though the both of them kept sending each other pointed stares across the table, until Dr. Light dismissed them.

Once dinner was over and done with, Rock excused himself from the table, going to work on a task his father had assigned to him, and Dr. Light watched him walk away, familiar doubts and questions still gnawing at his mind.

All he had been asked about this evening had been things his son should have known already, especially for the food, as the inner workings of robots was supposed to be Rock's specialty.

And though he hadn't thought of it in the midst of explaining the second question, too baffled by the fact he had even been asked to answer it, he now distinctly remembered an instance of his children kissing Kalinka on the cheek to bid her goodbye.

That left him wondering what had really prompted his son to ask him those. It was clear to him now that he hadn't been told the whole truth by his children, and that there were things they were hiding from him. Not that it was news to him.

And though he doubted he would get his answers, he still intended to clear up at least a few of his gray areas on the matter.

He didn't want to take a gamble and confront Rock himself, so he went for the next best thing.

He found Roll loading the dishwasher, the girl happily humming a tune while Beat sat on her head and bobbed up and down to the rhythm. He cleared his throat to get her attention once she had been done with her task.

“Roll... can I ask you something?”

His daughter seemed surprised to find him here, and not in his lab. But she smiled at him nonetheless. “Of course dad! Do you need help with cleaning up your desk? Do you want me to put up a reminder for a meeting? Or maybe-”

Dr. Light put a stop to her ramblings by placing a hand on her shoulder.

“It's about your brother.”

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Auto and Rush trying to scurry away as discreetly as possible, Beat flying away as well, and when he focused his attention back on Roll, the girl was pinching her lips and trying to look anywhere but at him.

She was terrible at hiding things.

“So, I take it you know something as to why he's been acting this way lately?”

Roll stayed silent, but nodded either way.

“And am I right in thinking you won't tell me what you know?” He asked, surprising even himself at how defeated he sounded.

That tone made his daughter look at him in worry, and she shook her head.

“It's... It's not your fault.” She said.

“What do you mean?”

“You don't have to feel bad about it. Rock doesn't want you to feel bad about it.”

“About what?”

Roll smiled, though it looked a bit sad. “He told me what happened. And he's not mad at you. Not anymore.”

So his son really bore no ill will towards him anymore. That certainly took a weight off the doctor's chest.

“Then why won't he talk to me? I can tell he has something on his mind. Something important.”

His daughter hesitated, and looked like she was about to stop talking, but seemed to come to a decision.

“He's scared.”

“What?”

“He's scared of it. Of what it does to him...” She trailed off, and looked unsure at what she was about to say. “ Of what you will think... of the consequences...”

“What do you mean?” He asked, but it was clear Roll wasn't listening to him anymore, as tears started forming around her eyes.

“It's not fair!” She whined soon after. “He shouldn't be- he shouldn't be hurting because of it! He should be happy and fine!”

Dr. Light swore he was starting to feel even more confused than when he had come to his daughter for answers.

And concerned. “What's hurting him?”

Roll looked down at the ground. “I'm sorry. I really can't tell you, it's his to say. I don't want to betray him and...”

“And?”

“I'm... I'm scared, too. For him, if it ever gets worse.... And of what you will think.” He saw her hands turning into fists at her sides, her stare still set on the ground. “... of how you'll react. What you'll do...”

“Roll, don't say that. I'd never do anything to hurt either of you!” Dr. Light assured, feeling horrified his daughter had somehow come to think he would bring harm to his children should he have to resort to it.

Roll looked up at him again, her tears now streaming down her face. “But what if you're forced to?”

He was about to reply right away, but realized he couldn't give her a proper answer.

With the government and his peers breathing down his neck, waiting for anything to happen that would justify his arrest or the destruction of his projects... while he would never do anything to hurt his creations, he knew _they_ could.

The only way he could answer Roll was to know exactly how serious this matter was.

“Is... _this_ , really that bad of a thing?”

“I-I don't know. I don't see it as bad, but-”

“Alright. Then, for now, don't worry about it. And I won't either.” He forced himself to smile, for her sake. “I trust your judgement, Roll. If you think whatever is going on with your brother isn't threatening anyone, then I don't see how it's wrong, and why I should take action.”

“... It's bothering him, though. But he's too stubborn to get help.” She pouted.

Dr. Light didn't exactly know how to respond, so he chose to wipe away at his daughter's tears, who spoke once again:

“Promise you won't be mad at him when you learn the truth? Whatever happens?”

He hesitated. He still didn't exactly know the true nature of what was going on, after all. But looking into his daughter's eyes, he found he had no choice. “I promise, Roll.”

She smiled, and he, too, smiled, genuinely. However, he still had one last thing to ask her.

“But... could you tell him that I'm here for him? Should he need help or guidance?”

“Of course! I can't promise he'll come to you right away, because you know he can be dumb like that, but I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that!”

Dr. Light nodded. “Thank you, Roll. I'll be in my lab if you need to find me.”

"As usual." She huffed playfully. “Try not to fall asleep on your chair again!”

The doctor chuckled, and ruffled his daughter's hair, ignoring her loud protests. “I'll try my best, but I can't promise you that.”

He bid her goodnight and was about to do as he had said and go to his lab and work until he felt too tired to, when Auto came by around the corner.

“It's okay Doc. I think Rock is just trying to figure things out.”

“What things?” He raised an eyebrow at the robot. Was he in on it too?

“I don't really know...” Auto admitted. “They tried to explain it to me, but I think it's way too complicated for my programming to handle. Something about feelings?...”

“Feelings? Did they tell you which ones?”

Dr. Light must have sounded either eager or pressing, as Auto took a step back from him, looking every bit nervous. “I-I'm sorry Doc, I don't really remember. As I said, it was a bit too much for me.”

“I see. Don't worry about it, Auto.” He gently patted him on the chest, and went on his way after thanking him.

On the way to his lab, his mind raced with all the information he had gathered this evening.

So this whole thing revolved around feelings. Complicated feelings. And said feelings were supposed to be a good thing, according to Roll. But Rock was scared of them.

Scared of what they could bring.

But what kind of feelings could be both wonderful and scary? Good and bad?

Either way, if his son started to experience strong feelings, whatever they could be, there was a possibility his hardware wouldn't be able to handle it. If that was the case, then the doctor hoped his son would be smart enough to come to him. In the meantime, he would keep an eye out for any signs of glitching on Rock's part.

The last thing the doctor wanted was to have any of his children hurting over something he could have easily prevented.

Yet... he still wondered what those feelings were. Could it be...?

No, he had already established it would be impossible. Extreme anger, joy, sadness and such were entirely much more plausible.

But, as a scientist, could he really ignore that possibility? No matter how ridiculous it sounded?...

The doctor rubbed at his eyes and looked at his screens. He would work all night. Put his whole focus on it. Get his mind off of what was bothering him.

That way, maybe, he would eventually figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> eeey, nearly two months before a new update, I guess you guys should be used to it by now.  
> Though I have to say I'm excited. This might become one of the few multi-chaptered fics I'm going to finish. ^^"  
> Tune in soon for the fourth chapter. Should be up in less than a week. Maybe even tomorrow, who knows.
> 
> Anyways, enough talking. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as usual, thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, things are getting a bit angsty again.

“...”

Dr. Light blinked, his eyes bleary, his throat dry, and his whole body hurting him in various places.

He had fallen asleep on his chair in the midst of all his work, and was now paying the price for his carelessness.

He looked up and saw his son standing next to him.

He hadn't understood a word of what the robot had just said.

“I'm sorry, what did you-”

Rock looked like he had been about to repeat, but stopped when he took in the sorry state of his father. “Wait a minute, did you sleep the whole night in your chair? Again?”

Dr. Light sighed in defeat. “I did.”

His son shook his head, and told him to wait for him, before he exited the lab. He came back soon after with a tray filled with food, drinks, and painkillers.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at that. “Thank you... but I don't think I've said anything about my back hurting?”

“You've been complaining about your joints aching for months now, even after you sleep in your bed." Rock explained as he sat on the desk, next to the tray. "I can only imagine what sleeping in such an uncomfortable way did to you.”

“Ha...” Dr. Light said intelligently, as he gulped down a few of the pills. “Surely you must be exaggerating. Months? Really?”

“I do not mean to mock you or anything but... you're not getting any younger.” Rock smirked, as he served his father his coffee.

“Be careful, Rock.” He smiled as he gladly took the hot mug from his son's hands. “Humans are known to get pretty cranky with age. You better watch what you say around me from now on.”

“I'll keep that logged in.”

They both chuckled, and Dr. Light kept smiling as he took a sip of the warm beverage. He still hadn't figured out what was going on with Rock, but it seemed as if his son was now in a much better disposition around him and, to the doctor, it was all that mattered for the moment.

He was simply glad his child was talking to him again.

Speaking of which...

“So, now that I'm awake, what had you been trying to tell me when I woke up?”

Rock stared at him for a while, and Dr. Light let him think. He was halfway through emptying his mug when his son spoke. “I think my emotional regulation protocols are glitching out.”

“What makes you think that?”

“My outbursts... and I've been experiencing bugs, sometimes even crashes, from strong emotions. I've also been asking myself a lot more questions lately.”

Dr. Light took some time to organize his thoughts at the revelation. He figured this is what Roll had been talking about when she lamented the fact her brother was hurting from the emotions he felt.

This was undeniably serious, but he decided to be cautious and take a lighter approach to his son's words.

“That, I noticed.” He joked.

It seemed as if it had been the right thing to say, as Rock cracked a smile. “So, could you maybe... run a check-up or something? Or fix it?”

He was going to do exactly that. But he was still curious as to what the feelings that had been causing those glitches were. He still hadn't figured out the answer to the questions he had had on his mind for weeks, and he was getting pretty tired of being left in the dark. The atrocious quality of sleep he had gotten certainly didn't help with his impatience.

“Yes, I could. However, before that, I must ask you...Rock, is there something you're hiding from me?”

Rock looked like a mixture of scared and nervous. He, too, was terrible at hiding things. “N-no!”

“Rock, I created you. I am your father. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” The doctor tried, hoping to sound reassuring.

But his son stayed silent, looking down at the ground, biting his lip.

And in that moment, it was almost eerie how human he looked.

Dr. Light sighed. He was ready to give up his questioning. For the time being.

“When did those glitches start?” He asked, preferring to repair his son right away, so that he could go take a much needed nap in his comfortable bed afterwards.

“... when I started going to that fighting tournament.”

Dr. Light almost groaned. That blasted fighting tournament... though, perhaps that meant?...

“In that case... maybe it's the weapon data messing with your personality and emotions again?” He offered, wondering if he was finally coming closer to getting his answers.

But Rock frowned. “Didn't you make it so that wouldn't happen?”

Indeed, he had. And had tested Rock over and over to make sure everything had been in order, not wanting anything to happen to him, to the point where the robot had had to run the tests on himself in order for the doctor to leave him alone.

It definitely couldn't be it.

He was back to square one. There was only one option left.

“Very well then, in that case, I'll see what I can do. But I'll have to check your memory and registery for any strange logs... it's gonna take a while.”

He saw Rock jolt at that, and he watched as the robot's entire body stiffened. “Wait... you're going to check every little thing?”

“How else am I supposed to find the root of the problem? I can't find and fix the glitch if you don't tell me what causes it.” He explained, feeling a bit lost as to why his son had reacted that way to his words. “You should know that more than anyone, Rock.”

If he had been human, he was pretty sure his son would have blanched.

Before Dr. Light could say anything else, Rock jumped from the desk, and started making his way out, walking backwards, a clearly forced smile on his face. “Y-you know what? Nevermind. I'm good! It's probably nothing anyway-”

Dr. Light frowned. Nothing? Glitching and shutting down at random wasn't nothing! Not only was it inconvenient, he knew it could be painful for his robots, not to mention dangerous.

At this point, he couldn't care less about what his son was hiding from him. His safety came first.

“You're not going anywhere! What you told me is serious, Rock!”

But Rock wasn't listening to him. Dr. Light could see him fighting back against the urge to obey his order, wincing. “N-no, it's okay! It's perfectly okay, I'm sorry I bothered you. Just go to sleep, I'll deal with it, besides, it'll probably just go away on its own and-

“DLN-001!”

Dr. Light disliked using his creations' serial numbers. But doing so made Rock freeze on the spot, long enough for the doctor to manually lock the doors to the only exit of this part of the lab.

“Rock... please go back to your seat.” He ordered, even though his heart was screaming at him to let his son go.

Meanwhile, said robot was panicking, frozen into place since his only chance of escape had been taken away from him. “N-no...no, please no...”

“This is for your own good.” He tried to explain, to convince both himself and his son, taking slow, careful steps towards the robot, as if he was a frightened wild animal. “Rock, you've been acting strange, and I would never forgive myself if something were to happen to you from my own neglect-”

“Well maybe I want you to neglect me! For once!” Rock blurted out, his eyes crazed, clearly displaying his fear.

“How can I?!” Dr. Light exclaimed, horrified at the thought, and more so that his son was suggesting it. “Rock, you're my son! You're my creation, and I have to treat you like all the others! I can't just ignore it when something is wrong! If I have to fix you, then that's what I'll do!”

“There's nothing wrong with me!” Rock yelled. “There's nothing to fix! I knew I shouldn't have come here, I-”

Dr. Light felt lost. “But you came to me for-”

Rock kept on screaming. And the doctor quickly understood it wasn't really directed at him. “There's nothing to fix! What I feel is normal! It's not a glitch!”

At that point, Rock started crying, and the doctor could only watch as tears streamed down his son's face, scared to make a wrong move, as the robot kept on muttering “...It's not a glitch...” over and over again.

“...Rock?...” He whispered, taking a step forward. His son didn't move, still stuck in what looked like a trance, mumbling miserably to himself.

He waited. And took another step.

“Talk to me, please?”

Dr. Light groaned as his son collided with him in a bone-crushing hug, crying into his chest, and the doctor wondered what he had done that made him deserving of seeing both his children like this in less than a day.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry dad... I'm so sorry...” Rock hiccuped between sobs. “You were always so proud of me but- I'm not- I'm not a good robot...”

“What are you talking about?” Dr. Light whispered, hugging his son with one hand, and gently petting Rock's hair with the other.

“I wanted to come clean to you, but... I'm not ready.” Rock sniffled, his tears making his father's lab coat wet. “I'm sorry... I'm not ready to see your reaction... your disappointment...”

Dr. Light wondered exactly what event would have made both his children think he would react in a way that would warrant such fear on their part. But it was yet another question he would have to get the answer to later on, as he had something more important to do at the moment.

“Rock... no matter what you're hiding from me, I'll still love you either way. Please, believe me.” He murmured, hugging his son closer to him.

“... I'll try.” Rock said, his voice shaky. “But... I won't tell you, not today. I can't, I-”

“It's okay. I've been waiting already, doing so a bit longer won't be a problem. It's you I'm worried about.” He explained, and felt a bit ashamed at how childish he had been, focusing on his need to have his questions be answered. “But, if you're intent on staying like this for now, then please, tell me this: how long do you think you'll last?”

“I...don't know. But... I think I'll manage. I hope. One thing I'm certain of is my friends will watch over me.” Rock wiped his tears from his face, and looked up at his father with a watery smile. “Just, please, don't worry about me.”

Dr. Light chuckled sadly, as he wiped away the few remaining tears on his son's face.

“Rock, you're my son. Worrying about you is part of my duty as your father.”

“Alright but... don't lose sleep over it, okay?” Rock asked, burying his face into his father's chest. “I don't want to come back home and find you all cranky and hurting.”

“Oh, come on now, don't you dismiss your sister's nagging!” Dr. Light snorted, and he could feel Rock's soft chuckle. “There's no way she'd let me reach that state.”

They lingered a while into the hug, until he felt Rock wanted to be let go. So he did. And promptly reopened the door he had previously locked.

“You're going back, then?” He asked, and Rock sighed, wincing a bit.

“Yeah. And I better go there quickly. I kinda came to see you on a whim, so I'm already running late.”

Dr. Light nodded. “Don't worry. Tell them to call me should they have anything to say to you.” He wouldn't let his son get in trouble over such important matters, after all. No matter who it was that ran that tournament.

Rock snorted. “Will do, dad. Take care.”

“You too. See you soon!”

Rock walked to the door, but as Dr. Light watched him go, he still felt like there was one last thing he had to say.

“Oh, and, Rock?”

The robot kept on walking. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

He couldn't see his son's face when he froze at the words, but when Rock turned around, he was smiling.

It was small, but it was there, and sincere.

“... love you too, dad.”

Once Rock had walked out the door, Dr. Light let himself fall in his chair, the rollercoaster of emotions he had just gone onto catching up to him, as well as his lack of proper sleep.

He finished his breakfast, and didn't need any convincing from Roll to go straight to bed right after.

That evening, both inspired and driven by the events of the day, he went to work with renewed vigor and determination on his various -and failed- prototypes of programs that would allow a robot to possess genuine free will.

He surprised himself by making a bit of progress and, motivated by those results, would have pulled another all-nighter had his daughter not come in and forcefully dragged him to his bedroom in the middle of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For once, I wasn't lying when I said I would update soon. ^^
> 
> Can't make any promises on the last chapter though, as I'm still in the process of writing/rewriting some parts of it.  
> Hope you liked that chapter, and thanks for the kudos/comments! They are greatly appreciated! :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end (?)

“Dr. Thomas Light?”

Said man turned around at the sound of the booming voice. And tried really hard to keep his composure when he was met face to face with a giant floating disembodied gloved hand.

He had had an epiphany the morning his son went back to the universe where the fighting tournament, Super Smash Brothers, was being held.

Indeed, not only had Rock stated that his glitching had started along with his involvement in this universe, but he had noticed that all of the conversations he had had with his son surrounding the issue he was facing, had, in one way or another, involved it.

The next logical step had been to schedule an appointment to be allowed a visit in this strange universe. The man in charge who spoke to him over the phone had been reticent at first, but upon understanding what had been motivating the human, had allowed him to spend an entire week there.

And he was currently looking for said man, after having been transported to this world by what he could only assume had been some sort of teleportation. But, for the time being, he decided to forgo his astonishment and fear, and be polite.

“Ah, yes, that would be me. I am looking for a 'Master Hand'?”

“Well, I think it's safe to say that you are looking right at him. Welcome to my universe. I hope the trip was of your liking?”

Dr. Light gulped, a million questions invading his mind, but he fought them off. Truly, he had been excited, and still was, about getting to travel to a whole other reality than his own. Though it was overshadowed by his concern for his son, it still was a wonderful experience, that he hadn't thought he could have gone through in his lifetime.

However, while he had known he would come face to face with things that were out of the ordinary, based on Rock's stories, he figured he might have underestimated just how weird things could get.

How come his son had apparently managed to fit in so well?

“It's been... great. And, thank you.”

The hand bowed. Or maybe it was his way of nodding? Dr. Light tried not to think too hard about it.

“Do you wish for me to call your son over?”

Dr. Light shook his head. He was planning on making this visit a surprise for Rock. And something in the tone of the host's voice told him that Master Hand was already pretty busy. “Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I'll go look for him myself.”

“Very well. Have a nice day, Mr. Light.”

And with that, he disappeared without a trace, leaving the doctor stunned, staring off into empty space. The man shook his head and started to walk out of the room. He was faced with the choice between three identical corridors. He figured he should take the one in front, as he had just come out of an important office.

He kept walking along, and soon, more and more corridors showed up. There were doors everywhere. Each in a different style. What little he could see through whatever doors were open was that the interior design was also strikingly different from one room to another.

All in all, the whole building looked like a melting pot of styles from different places and eras, strung together in a chaotic display, yet maintaining some kind of harmony. He did take notice that two of the most recurring styles looked akin to what would be medieval and victorian european, and traditional japanese.

But the strangest thing yet, were the place's occupants.

Turning around a corner, Dr. Light almost had a heart attack as a blue blur raced past him, chased by two blobs of orange and blue ink.

Said blobs stopped in their tracks, and it turned out they were squids. That quickly took on the appearance of children.

Dr. Light wanted to stop himself from gaping at them, not wanting to be rude, but he found it difficult.

One of the kids, the orange one, smiled at him, and spoke to him in a strange, garbled voice.

And grabbed at his beard, quite obviously fascinated with it.

The doctor tried to pay it no mind, and instead decided to ask for directions.

“H-hello? My name Is Thomas Light. I'm looking for my son. Rock? Mega Man?”

The squids -kids- looked up at him, blinked, and grinned, visibly excited. They spoke to each other, and the only word Dr. Light understood was his son's name.

He jumped in fright, his heart skipping a beat, as the blue blur came back and stopped right in front of him.

It was a hedgehog. A blue hedgehog. That, or a really prickly rat.

“Whoa, did you just say you're Rock's dad?!”

A talking, blue hedgehog. Who took his hand, and shook it.

“Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. I go fast and all that. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Light! Surely Rock told you about me? We're bros.”

Sonic. That was Sonic? Dr. Light had indeed heard about him, but though he had been informed that one of his son's best friends was a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog that ran fast and could talk, he had thought Rock had been taking him for a fool.

Though his son had failed to mention his friend didn't entirely understand the concept of clothes, apparently.

“Ah, um, yes,” Dr Light replied intelligently. “He did tell me about you. You're that one friend who taught him how to burp, am I right?”

The hedgehog looked at him with a mix of pride and regret. “Ah, yes. One of my life's many achievements. Teaching a robot how to burp. And also my biggest mistake...”

Dr. Light could only agree. But he still needed to be given directions.

“So... now that introductions are out of the way... would you happen to know where Rock is right now?”

“Last I saw him he was hanging out with the gang...” The hedgehog pondered, then whipped around to speak to the other kids. “Hey, do any of you guys know where Rock is right now?”

The orange one garbled up a response, and Sonic nodded, turning back to look at the doctor.

“Ah, there you have it. He's at the PokéPark.”

Dr. Light chose not to ask how he managed to understand them. Nor what a 'PokéPark' was. “And, uh, where exactly...?”

“On your left, right as you exit the Mansion. Should be signs to guide you there.” The hedgehog pointed towards a nearby corridor.

“And how do I leave this place?” Dr. Light asked, not wanting to spend the whole week of his stay lost in a building.

“Oh, right, you've never been here before, have you?” Sonic scratched the back of his head. “Don't worry, new arrivals get lost all the time. Me included.”

Well that didn't sound ominous at all. He figured he would have to ask his son about his first day then.

The hedgehog led him throughout the corridors, and on the way he encountered some of the residents. One mustached man, wearing yellow, looked him in the eyes and farted as they passed by him, and Dr. Light had a world of trouble to keep his composure.

They arrived in more open spaces, that Dr. Light assumed were lounges or living rooms, and he met a lot more of his son's friends and acquaintances.

Some sultry woman in black playfully flirted with him as an introduction, and the blondes next to her rolled their eyes: the delicate one in a blue gown gave Dr. Light a curtsy bow, a star creature twirling around her, while the other offered the doctor a warm smile and placed a strong hand on his shoulder. He recognized her as Samus, and the woman was visibly pleased Rock had told him about her, thanking the doctor for building and raising such a good son.

Dr. Light sputtered at the praise, though in the time it took for him to get out of the mansion, he heard the same words come from many a fighter, and even more coming from a young man he instantly knew was Simon Belmont, as Rock had strangely grown quite close with this intimidating character.

As he was about to head out, he heard an explosion come from his right side, and turned just in time to see a small turtle monster driving a vehicle similar to Albert's, closely followed by a very angry mob of soot-covered children.

“Don't mind them. Bowser Jr. always looks for trouble.” Sonic explained.

Dr. Light blinked, looking around a bit more and witnessing a gigantic and kingly crocodile arm wrestling with a skinny purple dragon, while a wolf cheered them on.

What kind of a fever dream was this place?

As their small group reached a bridge, the hedgehog stopped in his tracks. “Alright, I'll have to let you go on your own, as we were kind of in the middle of a game of tag I was totally winning so... think you'll be able to make it on your own?”

Dr. Light nodded. He was still feeling a bit lost, but figured he shouldn't borrow too much of the hedgehog's time. “I... think so. Thank you for your help, Sonic.”

“No prob bob.” The hedgehog gave him a thumbs up, so did the squid-kids. “Alright guys, let's go!”

It took some time for the doctor to find his way to the PokéPark, as despite the presence of the signs, he still stopped to ask for directions, staying to chat with some of the inhabitants of the town that surrounded most of the mansion's grounds.

In truth, he was stalling. He wondered how Rock would react to his visit. Would he get mad at him, again?

But he had gone so far, and was to reside in the mansion for a week. There was no way he would be able to avoid meeting with his son during his stay, especially when nearly half of the people he knew were aware that Dr. Light was currently in this universe.

He finally arrived at the entrance of a park, filled with colorful creatures. The words “PokéPark” embedded in intricate lettering onto a fancy wooden frame.

For a while, the doctor forgot his goal, fascinated by the strange animals that lived in the park. He watched them play and eat as he strolled around.

But soon enough, he heard a familiar laugh ring out. He steeled himself, walking towards the sound, ready to reveal himself to his son.

His steps lead him to what looked like a resting area, with picnic tables scattered about.

He hadn't been mistaken. Rock was seated at one of those tables, and he wasn't alone, as he was sitting right next to-

Oh, right. Rock had told him some of his friends were angels, but as with Sonic, he hadn't thought he had meant it literally.

Nevertheless, he approached the duo, but then froze on the spot.

Rock, his son, was holding hands with that angel boy. And soon enough, the angel leaned down to kiss his forehead, while the robot happily nuzzled his neck, a sappy smile on his face.

In the time he stood there, stunned, half hidden by a tree and some bushes, the couple went through a number of romantic gestures, each more corny and cheesy than the previous ones.

He tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He couldn't. Not unless...

He heard them exchange “I love yous”, and that prompted him to hide completely behind the tree, a hand to his mouth, at the dawning realization.

Because finally, all those conversations made sense.

His boy, his baby robot, his little creation, had fallen in love.

And that's why he had been so horrified at the prospect of his father discovering the truth.

After all, how could he not be? Being able to fall in love was not the way he had been programmed. His poor son had probably thought he would remove his feelings, or worse, decommission him.

Dr. Light stayed in his hiding spot, faintly registering his son and his partner's giggles. His mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to connect the dots, trying to fully comprehend what was happening. What had been happening. And he did not want to confront his son as long as his own feelings on the matter weren't sorted.

He recalled Rock's terrified expression. Roll's tears. His own cluelessness.

The answer had been right in his face, and he had reached it so many times, only to wave if off thanks to his preconceptions.

He would definitely need to work on his biases in the future.

After taking a few, deep breaths, the doctor felt like his mind was a bit clearer, and he went back to watching the couple. But he did not want to get out of hiding yet.

After all, he still had to figure out how he felt about the boy who had apparently managed to instill romantic feelings into his son's heart.

He tried to recall his name, and deduced that this angel must have been the 'Pit' he had heard so much about.

If that was the case, then Dr. Light felt a bit reassured. Pit had seemed like a nice and responsible boy, the only downside being that he sounded a bit dumb. But he obviously meant a lot to his son.

A lot indeed.

A small yellow rat came over to the couple, and they both gushed about it, giving the creature pets and treats. He heard his son laugh at a joke the angel made, and they both chuckled when another creature squeaked at the first one, demanding attention from the two boys, who happily gave it, both taking care of one creature each.

Pit then surprised Rock with a kiss on the cheek and whispered something into the robot's ear.

Sparks flew.

The creatures ran away as Rock's whole body jolted, while a worrying electric sound resonated. Some of the sparks fell onto the angel's toga, the fabric momentarily catching on fire, quickly put out by Pit's quick reflexes.

It was only then the doctor noticed the numerous scorch marks on the white cloth.

When Rock stopped glitching, he panicked instead, frantically checking for any injuries on the angel's body, while said angel looked as if he was trying to reassure him.

And thus, Dr. Light was reminded of his goal. At least he had sort of been right when he had told Rock falling in love would be worrying: his son's hardware hadn't been built to handle powerful emotions and feelings, least of all romantic love, and he had witnessed the undeniable proof of that fact.

And, worst of all, Rock was hurting, that much was certain. Dr. Light could easily notice the look of pain his son had been trying to repress while assuring the angel he was fine.

He could not delay this any longer. He took a few steps out the shadows, and the two boys fell silent as they looked at the newcomer.

“Hello, Rock.”

His son didn't say anything, frozen in fear, and the doctor felt an uncomfortably familiar pang of sadness, seeing his son react that way to his presence. Pit immediately shielded Rock from him, spreading out his wings to hide the robot, glaring at the doctor.

“I don't know who you are, but you better leave, right now!” The angel shouted.

Dr. Light blinked, taken aback by the angel's protective outburst. “Now wait a minute-”

But Pit wouldn't let him talk, shifting into a threatening fighting stance. “I said-”

“Pit, stop!” Rock pleaded, tugging onto the angel's arm. “That's... he's not an enemy.”

Pit turned to look at him, an eyebrow raised in confusion. Rock spared a glance to his father, but quickly focused his attention back on the angel. “He's my dad...”

Curiously, that statement did not make Pit lower his guard. But he did drop his aggressive stance. Dr. Light internally sighed in relief.

They stood in a heavy silence, Rock looking down at the ground, while Pit alternated between affectionately stroking Rock's cheek with his thumb, and sending warning glances towards Dr. Light, who, unable to do anything else, waited.

Rock lifted his head, and turned to look at him, looking every bit tense and cautious. “W-what are you doing here?”

Dr. Light wasted no time in explaining his motivations and reasoning, not wanting to let his son grow anxious over nothing. And to his relief, Rock looked a bit more relaxed by the time he had been done with his explanation, though whether it was thanks to that or because his son was pressed close to the angel's side, the doctor couldn't tell.

Dr. Light looked the couple up and down, Pit bringing Rock closer to him under his stare.

“So that was your little secret. You somehow managed to fall in love, then?” He asked, wanting to get straight to the point.

Rock tensed up again, but his expression did not change. “I- yes. Please don't be mad..."

Dr. Light nodded. “Do I seem mad to you?” he asked. Besides, even if he had wanted to, he had made a promise to his daughter.

His son silently looked at the angel, who shrugged.

“You... don't seem like you are.” Rock answered. “But I... I can't really tell what you're feeling right now.”

Dr. Light chuckled, and saw the last bits of tension leave his son, replaced instead by awkwardness.

“I am... puzzled. I guess. And I suppose it is warranted. I had never thought you could fall in love, after all.” He explained, feeling strangely serene despite everything. "But... most of all I am intrigued. And perhaps a bit... how do I put it... excited?"

He smiled, and Rock cocked his head to the side, prompting him to continue. "You, a robot, my son, being able to develop romantic feelings on his own... it's fascinating, really."

Rock's mouth quirked up at the corner, as he idly scratched at his chin. “Ah, I mean, I don't really know if I can love as much as humans do, but-”

“Don't listen to him. He can. In fact, I feel very much loved.” Pit interrupted, putting an arm around his shoulders to bring Rock even closer to him.

“Pit!” Rock squeaked out, as his cheeks were dusted in an obvious blush.

“What?”

“Don't say stuff like that in front of my dad!” The robot complained, crossing his arms, while the angel nuzzled his hair as an apology.

Dr. Light averted his gaze, suddenly becoming very interested in the argument two squirrel-like creatures were having over a berry.

When it was clear the two boys had put a stop to their PDA, he chanced a look at them, a question burning on the tip of his tongue.

“So... how long has this been going on?”

“It's recent... a few days ago Pit confessed to me, and asked me out on a date...” Rock gestured to the table, littered with half-eaten food. “This date.”

Dr. Light nodded. So his son had been plagued by doubts and fears well before he and his boyfriend had even been aware of each other's feelings. Now that was a sad thought. He had assumed being in a relationship was what would have planted those doubts in Rock.

He wondered what would have happened had the angel never felt the same way, or confessed.

He chased those thoughts away, as his mind made a very obvious connection. “So I suppose that's why you had been in such a good mood when you came back home, and why you asked me those questions over dinner?”

“Y-yes...” Rock admitted. “I know they were silly, but, I was kinda... lost? I guess?”

“No way. You asked your dad for advice?” The angel teased him, ruffling his hair. “Aw, aren't you a dear, right, daddy's boy?”

Rock playfully jabbed him in the stomach. “Stop that.”

Dr. Light watched their banter and lighthearted roughhousing with a smile, and approached his son, placing a hand on his shoulder. Rock froze, looking up at him.

"See, Rock? I'm still proud of you. Everything's fine, and it'll stay that way." He assured him.

And, sure, he would have to make it so that the government did not find out about this, but something about keeping secrets from the higher ups felt strangely alluring to him. He figured his teenage years' rebellious phase hadn't completely gone away.

All the air got knocked out of his lungs as Rock tackled him into a hug. "I'm sorry I worried you, dad. I was just so..."

"Scared? I understand son. To be honest, I, too, would have had no idea how I would have reacted. To tell you the truth, I think I am still processing everything." He admitted, chuckling awkwardly.

"I'm just glad..." Rock said, clutching at his father's lab coat. "I'm so happy you're not disappointed. That you still love me."

"Oh, Rock. I will always love you, no matter what. I told you as much, didn't I?" He asked, hugging his son back, who smiled and hummed in his chest, tearing up a little.

But those were tears of relief, and Dr. Light shed some himself.

It was only after a while he let go of the embrace, and remembered the angel -his son's boyfriend-, who had been patiently waiting for them to be done clearing things up.

"You guys are adorable." Pit cooed, prompting a laugh out of the Lights.

And thanks to this now cheerful atmosphere, a thought crossed the doctor's mind, and he turned to Pit, smirking. Rock looked between his father and his boyfriend, raising an eyebrow as he waited for either of them to talk.

“So, if I'm understanding this whole thing correctly...” Dr. Light started. “I take it you're my future son-in-law?”

Truth be told, the fresh discovery of his son loving -let alone dating- someone was still entirely foreign and impossible to him if he was being completely honest with himself, and Rock getting married sounded even more like a wild fantasy, but the look of absolute mortification on both boys' faces was too good to pass up.

And though this whole thing was far from over, as he knew both he and his son had some things left to say to each other, and those glitches would have to be fixed very soon, what parent could resist a little bit of teasing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of that chapter!  
> Indeed, though I had originally wanted to finish the story there, I ended up writing enough for a sixth chapter, as I felt something was lacking.  
> So you may take it as the end if you want, and the sixth as a bonus, but yeah, it shouldn't be too long 'til I update and finish this story for good! ^^
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed, and thank you for your kudos and comments! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus chapter, go!

“Rock... there is something, I feel I must ask of you.”

“Yeah?”

After a while of chatting and getting to know the angel and the world a bit more, Dr. Light had expressed his desire to talk to his son, so Pit had volunteered to put away their leftovers, while Rock and his father went to sit on a nearby bench.

“You see, your... emotions. Your experiences... were often not the result of your programming.”

“What do you mean?" Rock frowned. "Up until now, everything I did, you had coded in me, didn't you?”

“Did I?” Dr. Light raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, when you first decided to go up against Dr.Wily, was it the result of my decision?”

Rock didn't answer right away, staring at an imaginary point on the ground. “I... you programmed me to be helpful. Help humans. Humanity. That's what I did. That's what I was made for, right?”

“Yes. And I had done so in the goal that you would help me around the house and lab.” Dr. Light noted. “Never in a million years would I have imagined the son I created would risk his integrity to protect humanity.”

Rock looked at him in pure confusion. “I... don't see what you mean?”

“Rock... it's true that I programmed you to be helpful. But you are the one who gave that purpose a bigger scale. On your own.” Dr. Light put a hand to his son's chest. “You interpreted your own programming, and you chose what to do with what you had at the time.”

Rock waved him off. “You're giving me too much credit...”

“Really? Was I the one who suggested you'd become Mega Man? I happen to remember a very stubborn robot begging me to give him the Mega Buster, no matter how hard I tried to deny him.” Dr. Light chuckled nervously as he recalled that very stressful day. He wondered how his past self would have reacted had he known what this would lead to. If he would even understand.

He doubted it. His present self still wasn't even sure if he could explain in full detail what had sparked Rock to take action in that way, nor how Dr. Light had let himself be convinced.

He said as much to his son. “It's a wonder what happened in that robot mind of yours...” He trailed off, deep in thought. “Though you possess independent thought, as I had intended, it's clear that you don't have free will, not in the way humans do. But you, and your siblings... it seems as if you're getting closer to it as time passes. All on your own.” 

He paused. He figured the adaptive learning feature he had installed into his children had a part to play in all that, but even then, could it explain away all the little things they had done?

Especially this latest development on Rock's part? Could he really theorize that the robot had somehow 'learned' to fall in love? Dr. Light was not sure he could explain it like that. There had to be something more complex at play.

“And you, falling in love so genuinely, when even I, a human, have never been able to truly do so..." He said. "It's all very exciting to see.”

Rock hummed in acknowledgment, but voiced his concerns. “But... isn't that a bad thing?...”

Dr. Light chuckled, though he understood his son's point of view. “If you had been Albert's, then maybe. But I highly doubt he'd have even given you the opportunity to try and be your own person...”

Rock hummed again, pensive. They both watched the trees' leaves sway in the breeze, and some Pidgey's taking flight. “Dad? Why are you telling me this?”

“Oh, sorry, right... um...” Dr. Light coughed into his hand to shake off the awkwardness he felt. He knew his son was used to his rambles, but this was one instance where the doctor wanted to get to the point as quickly as possible. “To tell you the truth, I've been working on a new project.”

His son turned to look at him, an undeniable spark of curiosity in his voice. “A new project? What is it?”

“Well, not exactly new... see, when it was only just me and Blues, I had an ambitious goal: I wanted to find a way to transcend the limitations of robots' programming.” Dr Light explained, smiling as he recalled his younger self's dream. “Make them able to think much closer to how a human would. Make their own decision, their own personality. Attain a genuine sense of free will. All from scratch.”

“That sounds... great.” Rock grinned.

Dr Light nodded, losing his smile. “Although, when your brother ran away, I put that project on hold.” He took a deep breath. “It made me doubt if making robots so close to humans was a good idea. So I gave up, and instead built new robots. And made sure not to be careless with my coding.”

Rock didn't say anything, but put his hand on top of his father, waiting for him to continue.

“I had kept that project stored away, and some colleagues still asked me about it. But I never felt motivated to work on it. But, lately, with the way you've been acting...” He trailed off, lost in thoughts again, as those memories came back to him.

He felt his son awkwardly pat his hand to bring him back to reality, and the silly gesture, somehow, made the doctor let out a snort. Soon, he was blushing and laughing over nothing, as Rock stifled his own giggles, the both of them letting go of some more pent up emotions, feeling relieved.

“So,” Rock said, when it was clear his father still needed time to calm down. “What I get from it, is that you've picked that project back up?”

Dr. Light hummed in response. “Exactly.”

“And, what does that have to do with me? Or my siblings?” Rock asked, as his father sat up straighter.

“Well, as I already said, you are still plagued by limitations neither you or I can overcome -for the time being at least-." He smiled, hoping to reassure his son. He really hoped he would make his breakthrough soon, and offer his children the autonomy he wished for them. "But the knowledge from your experiences would be very valuable to me, in order to continue my research, as I wish for them to be the norm, for every robot.”

“Sure! I'd be happy to answer any questions you may ask of me.” Rock's grin faltered, a shy blush dusting his cheeks. “Except, maybe, uh... some...”

Dr. Light chuckled knowingly. “Of course. Though I hope you'll still let me gather at least a little bit of data when it comes to your romantic relationship? It is quite the feat, and I would like to understand it better.”

“Of course! Always ready to help!” His son reaffirmed once he had managed to get rid of his blush. “Even though I still don't really get what's so amazing about me...”

A new voice joined their conversation. “Don't question it. You just are.”

“P-Pit! You were listening?” Dr. Light watched with curiosity as the blush on his son's face came back full force, some sparks coming out of some slightly worrying places.

“To everything.” The angel explained, and the doctor laughed.

“Come on now, Rock,” He said, nudging his son's shoulder. “I suppose he has the right to listen in on us. After all, isn't he kinda part of our family now?”

For all answers, Rock's eyes glitched out, his expression a mix of awe and confusion. “F-faa-aa...mi....”

Before Dr. Light could react, Pit was by the robot's side, gently shaking him. Once Rock gathered his bearings, the angel forced out a smile, joking. “Re, do?”

Rock smiled back, squeezing the angel's hand and looking him straight in the eyes, wearing an expression the doctor recognized as Rock silently apologizing for his glitching.

He was about to tell his son he had nothing to be sorry for, but to his astonishment he got beaten to it again.

“Don't. It's not your fault.” Pit chastised, squeezing the robot's hand back. “I just wish you'd get that fixed. I don't like seeing you hurting.”

The doctor could have sworn the angel had left something out, but his son had apparently picked up on it, as Rock raised his free hand to the angel's cheek.

“I'm not hurting because of you. It's not anyone's fault, it just is,” He cracked a smile. “Come on, you're the one who told me that.”

Dr. Light smiled. He was warming up more and more to the idea of his son having a boyfriend.

“About that,” He said. “Now that everything's out in the open, I suppose you don't have any objections to getting those repairs?”

Rock blinked when he turned to look at him, and soon gave him the biggest smile he had given him in months, making his father's heart soar.

“Not at all!”

Once they got done tidying up, they all walked back to the mansion. Dr. Light greeted some more people, who had been informed of his presence in this world, and had to accept some more warm greetings, gifts and praises, his son feeling as sheepish as he did.

To his surprise, the mansion hosted an underground workshop and laboratory.

Upon entering said laboratory, Dr. Light greeted a young man called Shulk, and after a while of getting to know the layout of the place and discovering the near endless ressources of materials and technology at his disposal, Dr. Light put Rock to sleep and got to work.

It took an entire day for the man to find and fix the major glitches, but that was still much less time spent than if he had had to go in blind, unaware of the causes behind his son's malfunctioning.

Throughout the day, he was visited by Pit, the angel checking in on how Rock was doing, but also making sure the doctor was doing well himself, by bringing him drinks and snacks and giving him a helping hand when the time came to change some outdated or weak hardware parts inside Rock's body.

The angel had looked a mix of fascinated and off put by the display, but had tried to stop himself from being overbearing with his questions. Although, the doctor had happily explained everything he wanted to know, from what procedures he was following, what tools would work best for a given situation, what the 'squiggly lines' on the screens meant, to what components served what purpose to get Rock running smoothly.

Dr. Light was surprised to find he enjoyed the boy's company. He still couldn't help but find the angel to be a bit of an oaf, but had to admit Pit had many qualities, and perhaps was much smarter than the doctor had initially assumed. All in all, he was starting to understand why his son could have fallen for him.

But, that still raised the question of what this angel had seen in the robot. So, as he was taking a break, looking at some of the screens he was not using, and were displaying symbols in foreign languages, he asked as much to the teen who was sipping a drink at his side.

“He's amazing.” Pit explained, his eyes sparkling. “He looks so cool when he fights, and he's such a great hero with a strong sense of justice!”

“Surely, that's not all you see in him?” Dr. Light asked, knowing well his son was not really proud of his fighting prowess.

“Oh, no, no. He's also an awesome friend...” Pit praised, a bit giddy. “He's super thoughtful, compassionate and kind, maybe a bit too much... But I feel so lucky to have become his friend!”

“And more.” Dr. Light added with a knowing smirk.

“Of course!” Pit smiled, his wings flapping from happiness. “I still find it hard to believe I'm dating him! I'm so happy he felt the same way!”

Dr. Light felt himself smile. Yes, there was no doubt that his son had found himself someone who was worth falling in love with.

Still, he could not help his protective urges. Rock, along with his other children and creations, was immensely important to him. “Then, I do hope you'll be good to him?”

“Yes!” Pit affirmed, determination clear in his eyes and posture. “Don't worry! I'll take really good care of him, and always be there when he needs me!”

Dr. Light nodded, the last bits of fears and doubts he had dissipating. Maybe it was time he let someone else other than his family be there to fully support and love Rock.

“I wouldn't have doubted it.”

They worked late into the evening, until Dr. Light deemed the repairs to be enough. He had not successfully removed all the glitches, as there were a lot more than he had expected, but he had done away with the most dangerous and inconveniencing ones.

They woke up Rock, Pit immediately going for a reciprocated hug. Dr. Light stayed on the sidelines, watching as the angel asked the robot how he felt.

Once Pit let go, Rock got up from the operation table, and lightly squeezed his father's arm in a thankful hug, until the angel suggested they'd all go eat.

For his first dinner, Dr. Light had been invited to the table of someone named 'Mario'. The young man seemed to have quite the influence, and, at first, Dr. Light hadn't known what to think of him.

But over the course of the meal, and the rest of the night, they grew to become friends, which was the case with most of the other people seated at that very same table, Samus and Rosalina being part of them.

Though, whenever he had been able to, Dr. Light had looked over at his son's table: the robot looked like he belonged in the group of teens he was laughing and talking with, and his father felt a warm feeling in his heart, watching as his child looked happier and more serene than he had seen him in years.

This made him curious of Rock's life in this universe, so, after a good night's sleep in the bedroom Rock and Pit helped him locate, he went around the place to glean some anecdotes about his son's stay.

Some of them made him even prouder of Rock, as the fighters praised the robot's manners, fighting spirit or general kindness.

He learned the robot had formed a partnership with Shulk and a woman everyone called 'Mii Gunner'. The trio apparently helped repair electronics and weapons, making use of their skills and taking away some workload from Master Hand, which Dr. Light had learned was not alone in running the place.

Rock sometimes offered his help to the Villagers, to move furniture and even houses around. He also offered maintenance for and hanged around Rosalina's Comet Observatory, a massive spaceship that Dr. Light marvelled at later during his stay.

Some anecdotes surprised the doctor. Namely, he got wind of Rock's playful, or even prankster, side. He figured his son's choice of close friends led him to play pranks and jokes on the inhabitants of this dimension, though learning that his pranks were harmless eased Dr. Light's heart.

However, the doctor had not been particularly fond of learning his son was not exactly strict about his sleeping schedule whenever his father was not around to check on him. But after he noticed Rock coming to breakfast late with a sleepy angel in tow one morning, Dr. Light figured this would probably no longer be an issue.

The rest of Dr. Light's stay was a whirlwind.

Since the dimension he was in was used to host a fighting tournament, he went to see some of them. He was not fond of violence, and most confrontational sports bored him, so he had not expected to particularly enjoy the battles.

Yet, though he did feel rather unimpressed by the whole thing, he still found the fights to be astounding. The people the Hands had picked were indeed mighty warriors, so when the time came to witness one of his son's combats, Dr. Light was a worrying mess.

He was understandably taken aback when Rock, Pit, Sonic and Lucas -a boy so sweet Dr. Light had had half a mind to adopt him- managed to defeat the likes of Ganondorf, Bowser, Dark Samus and Meta Knight after a suspenseful and tense battle.

It also made Dr. Light worry of the repercussions of this tournament on Rock's behavior in their own world. After all, the fights made it seem like his son had no regards for the laws of robotics anymore.

So he requested to talk about it to Master Hand, who promptly reassured him that the laws would still apply back in their own world, and outside of battles.

This did not exactly erase the very clear image of his son sucker-punching a human-looking man thrice his height, but when Rock came to him, unbelievably proud of his win, and excitedly asked his father what he had thought of his performance, Dr. Light found he could do little else but wholeheartedly congratulate his son, the robot smiling wide at the praise, as did his friends.

Over the course of his stay, he also bore witness to some more of the 'shenanigans' putting wildly diverse people from even more different worlds together in one place could bring.

One of such shenanigans led him to being kidnapped by Bowser Jr., who requested Mega Man 'submit to his power, lest he wanted his father's life to end'.

Thankfully, the young koopa's father had intervened, excusing himself in a kingly manner that Dr. Light had not expected from such a creature.

Another event made him take a nosedive into a lake, only to be rescued by a giant blue frog, and he also got to witness the kitchen almost catching on fire, which was, as he gleaned, a regular occurrence.

But in retrospect, one of the most memorable moments Dr. Light lived through was when spectating one of his son's battles: in the middle of a match, he had seen Albert appear, only to get beaten up by Rock and six of the other participants. It was not really the fact of seeing his old friend-turned-rival get attacked from all sides that got to him, but rather the man's pure disbelief written all over his face when he noticed Thomas in the bleachers, cheering the fighters on.

Dr. Light had then learned Dr. Wily had been summoned to fulfill his role as an assist trophy during the tournaments, to ensure that Rock's nemesis would not attack in the super fighting robot's absence, explaining the drop in evil activity that their world had been experiencing. Dr. Light could feel that the Hand was hiding another reason as to why Albert had been brought in this universe to get beaten up on the daily, but he found it wiser not to pry.

All in all, he ended up really enjoying his stay. Learning a bit more about Rock's friends had been a great experience, as was forming friendships of his own: two martial arts fighters, Ken and Ryu, took a liking to Dr. Light and tried to teach him a fighting technique that the doctor had surprisingly been on the way to master by the time the week was over.

Alas, as had been arranged, he had to go back to his world. He accepted the parting gifts he was given, especially from Rock's friends.

His son accompanied him to a room filled with gates leading to other dimensions across the multiverse, and Rock's presence helped him not get distracted by the sheer amount of universes he could potentially know about and visit.

Though, this did give Dr. Light an idea.

“I suppose we could arrange for you boyfriend to visit us sometime.” He said, winking at Rock.

His son's eyes shone, though he still looked like he thought he had misheard his father.

“Really?” Rock asked, hopeful, as Dr. Light nodded.

“Of course, we'd have to keep it on the low... wouldn't want the authorities to find out...” He winked, and Rock grinned, hugging him as tight as he could without hurting him.

After a bit of coaxing, that lasted a few weeks, Master Hand had reluctantly agreed to give Pit a free pass to come visit his boyfriend's world and family whenever he was available.

Rock's glitching was becoming less and less of a problem the more time went by, as he frequently troubleshooted his own coding and kept his father well-informed of any new developments, good or bad.

And, as promised, Dr. Light had plenty of occasions to collect data on Rock's romantic life, as his son's angelic boyfriend was extremely enthusiastic at the prospect of visiting their world on the regular, the two lovebirds spending most of their free time roaming around the city, hiding Pit's nature the best they could, when they were not both in the lab, offering a helping hand to Dr. Light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HECK YEAH! This multi-chaptered fanfiction is officially _done_! (darn it feels good to say that)
> 
> Anyways, as I said, this is more of a bonus chapter than anything, but still, I hope you enjoyed it (and the entire fanfic too!)
> 
> Thank you all for the 40 kudos! And for leaving comments :')
> 
> _This was fun to write, even though it took longer than I had anticipated. ^^"_


End file.
